Device taps brain waves to help paralysed man communicate

A 2017 photo provided by the University of California, San Francisco, shows neurosurgeon Dr Edward Chang reflected in a computer monitor displaying brain scans as he performs surgery at UCSF. In a medical first, researchers, led by Chang, harnessed the brain waves of a man paralysed and unable to speak for 15 years – and turned what he intended to say into sentences on a computer screen. — UCSF via AP

In a medical first, researchers harnessed the brain waves of a paralysed man unable to speak – and turned what he intended to say into sentences on a computer screen.

It will take years of additional research but the study, reported Wednesday, marks an important step toward one day restoring more natural communication for people who can’t talk because of injury or illness.